History of the McGarvie Name

I am currently intested in trying to build a family tree… to see how far back I can get the name to go… so if anyone wants to share findings contact me using the link on the left!

Origin: Irish

Today’s Irish surnames are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name McGarvie originally appeared in Gaelic as O Gairbhin, derived from the word garbh, which means rough.

Spelling variations include: Garvin, Garvey, Garwin, Garvine, Garven, Garvan, Garvy, Garvie, Garwen and many more.

McGarvie (and variants) were first found in county Tyrone/Donegall where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

These different spellings are not surprising. In those days the parish clerk was one of the few men in each community able to read and write. It is easy to picture a succession of such men struggling to copy down the name as it was pronounced to them. The practice of spelling a word always in the same was just being established.

In Ireland, “son of” is usually “Mc” (McGarvie), but it’s interesting to note that at one time in Ireland the head of the clan was the grandfather and thus we have O’ (from Ogha meaning grandson of) Brien, O’Donnel and O’Neill.

In the Scottish [yes: Scottish] Highlands, “Mac” indicating “son of” is very popular (MacDonald, MacWilliam), but if the letter following the “c” of the “Mac” is not capitalized, then the latter part of the name is not a Christian name but instead has an occupational derivation, eg, Macnab (son of the abbot), Macintyre (son of the carpenter) and Macpherson (son of the parson).